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Album number five from Germany's doom-laden black metallers Secrets of the Moon. This is my first experience of the band, and whilst I do feel the album is a little too much I'd certainly say I've enjoyed my listens and would certainly now class myself as a fan.

What struck me at first, and initially sold me on the band is their use of build. The band is very skilled at building up a song, and they show this brilliantly in the album's opening track. Church bells pave the way for a dirge of individually picked guitar notes, cascading over a subtle atmospheric backing, then lower chugs begin the increase of tension, guitar stabs shoot through and just when you think it's going to explode they take it slower again, re-establishing the build and then continuing the motion until around the three-minute mark when the track actually explodes. The whole album takes this approach, and whilst maybe an overindulgent explanation of one track, said explanation can be used in the context of the whole album.

Whilst some tracks do tend to rage ahead a little more the others, for the most part this is all quite similar, funeral march builds exploding into furious black metal outbursts at opportune moments, but mostly remaining a very tense listen. I'd say definitely has appeal to fans of some of the more evil doom bands, and of course fans of atmospheric black metal such as Lunar Aurora. Like I said earlier the style of the music and length makes this album feel a little longer than it actually is, and isn't something I would listen to regularly. Although for what it is, Seven Bells is undoubtedly good and I would certainly recommend it to fans of the band.